Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of repairing a repair target portion existing in a repair target, and a repair apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
An outer panel (skin) forming an outer surface of a fuselage and a wing of an aircraft requires repairing if the outer panel is damaged by a lightning strike or flying objects such as hailstones. As a repairing material for use in such repairing, a composite material, such as fiber reinforced plastic (FRP), is used.
In order to heat and harden the repairing material so as to bond this repairing material to the repair target portion, a heater mat is used, as shown in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-208301. The heater mat is placed on the repairing material disposed to the repair target portion. A heat gun or an oven may also be used for heating the repairing material.
An external heat source, such as a heater mat, is used for heating the repairing material to transfer heat from the heat source to the repairing material. At this time, heat is diffused from the heat source and the repairing material to the surroundings of the repairing material. Consequently, a base material (outer panel) where the repairing material is disposed may be changed in quality due to overheating.
If output of the external heat source is decreased in order to avoid change in quality of the base material, insufficient heating is applied to the repairing material, which results in poor hardening, and hinders secure bonding of the repairing material to the repair target portion.
An object of the present invention, which has been made in order to solve the problems according to the conventional art, is to sufficiently heat a repairing material while preventing change in quality of a base material provided with the repairing material so as to securely bond the repairing material to the repair target portion.